The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of elements, is a tabular display of the chemical elements arranged by atomic number, electron configuration, and recurring chemical properties.

Actinide Chemical Elements

The actinide series encompasses the 15 metallic chemical elements with atomic numbers from 89 to 103, actinium through lawrencium.

These fifteen actinide elements [Actinium (Ac), Thorium (Th), Protactinium (Pa), Uranium (U), Neptunium (Np), Plutonium (Pu), Americium (Am), Curium (Cm), Berkelium (Bk), Californium (Cf), Einsteinium (Es), Fermium (Fm), Mendelevium (Md), Nobelium (No), Lawrencium (Lr)], have very large atomic and ionic radii and exhibit an unusually large range of physical properties.

Alkali Metals and Alkaline Earth Metals

The alkali metals (group 1) have very similar properties: they are all shiny, soft, highly reactive metals at standard temperature and pressure and readily lose their outermost electron to form cations with charge +1. The alkaline earth metals are all shiny, silvery-white, somewhat reactive metals at standard temperature and pressure.

The alkali metals are a group (column) in the periodic table consisting of the chemical elements lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), cesium (Cs), and francium (Fr).

Lanthanide Chemical Elements

The lanthanide or lanthanoid series of chemical elements comprises the fifteen metallic chemical elements with atomic numbers 57 through 71, from lanthanum through lutetium.

These fifteen lanthanide elements [Lanthanum (La), Cerium (Ce), Praseodymium (Pr), Neodymium (Nd), Promethium (Pm), Samarium (Sm), Europium (Eu), Gadolinium (Gd), Terbium (Tb), Dysprosium (Dy), Holmium (Ho), Erbium (Er), Thulium (Tm), Ytterbium (Yb), Lutetium (Lu)], along with the chemically similar elements scandium and yttrium, are often collectively known as the rare earth elements.

Noble Gases and Halogens

The noble gases (historically also the inert gases; sometimes referred to as aerogens) make up a class of chemical elements with similar properties; under standard conditions, they are all odorless, colorless, monatomic gases with very low chemical reactivity.

The six naturally occurring noble gases are helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), and the radioactive radon (Rn).

Pnictogens and Chalcogens

A pnictogen is one of the chemical elements in group 15 of the periodic table. This group is also known as the nitrogen family. The chalcogens are the chemical elements in group 16 of the periodic table. This group is also known as the oxygen family.

Pnictogens consist of the elements nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi),  and perhaps the chemically uncharacterized synthetic element moscovium (Mc).